Is Chinese table tennis hurting the sport?
Wednesday, 6th May 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
China continued its table tennis dominance at the recent Table Tennis World Championships in Yokohama, Japan, with all events ending in all-China finals. Wang Hao beat Wang Liqin for the men's singles title, and Zhang Yining beat rising star Guo Yue for the women's crown.While China likes gold medals just as much as anyone, its officials realize that such thorough dominance of a sport could be too much of a good thing.
"If one team keeps winning all at the world championships and Olympics, table tennis' Olympic future is in danger," Yao Zhenxu, vice chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, or CTTA (Xinhua).
To address the problem, the CTTA has announced a plan to help elevate the level of play globally, by sending more Chinese coaches abroad and sharing research on techniques and training, as well as welcoming foreign players to China's domestic league. CTTA chief Cai Zhenhua calls this the association's top priority this year.
Related: China announces its table tennis team
Tags: Guo Yue, ping pong, table tennis, Wang Hao, Wang Liqin, Zhang Yining